Yardhouse

Went to Yard House with some coworkers.

I haven't been there for a long long time.

Had a Blood Orange Austin East Ciders, pretty light and airy.

Starters: Truffle Fries... twist my arm.

Lobster, Crab, Artichoke Dip.  So addictive. 

Awesome Onion rings.  So glad there were others to share this with me, I cannot stop myself.

Here's my entree:

It comes with a small side salad, I got Ceasar. 

This is my lamb burger, sadly, it was cold by the time it got to me.  But I was still picking over the appetizers.

Dessert time: This is S'more Brownie dish, and it's crack!  What you can't see is that there's graham cracker at the bottom as the cake.  Then, you get the chocolate gooey goodness, and then roasted marshmallow on top.

Here's the Trio, which has peach cobbler, cheesecake brûlée, chocolate soufflé's cake.

Bread Pudding with Creme Anglaise

So, our server is as attentive as possible given she has so many tables.  She was also very patient in bringing us different sips of beers to try to find the right one.  I really appreciated them taking the time to help.  The food aren't bad, but was sad that my burger was not up to par.  The rest are good and given the price and atmosphere, is exactly what you'd expect from a higher end bar to do.  

Do take the time to get there a tad early, especially if it's a game night.  The volume is loud, but you can still talk.  Do ask the staff, they are always happy to help.

Yard House

800 Sorella Ct

Houston, TX 77024

713-461-9273

https://www.yardhouse.com/home

Kau Ba

So Kau Ba was popping up on my Instagram feed like crazy.  So, out of curiosity, had to give that a shot.

They're not exactly on Montrose but close enough.

To start, I got Ca Phe Sua - Vietnamese Iced Coffee, not as sweet as with condense milk but definitely more vanilla-ey than normal.

Truffled Wagyu Banh Cuon - which is beef inside rice roll (rice noodle), mushroom, and fried onion with fish sauce.  It looked great in the picture, the meat is not as strong flavored as I'd hoped. 

Their Homemade dumpling, which has pork shrimp filling with soy vinegar and sesame seeds.  This is actually pretty awesome in terms of taste.

Chef's Fried Rice with Caviar.  It's basic shrimp fried rice with very generous amount of caviar in two flavors.  So, the trick here is that you really need to mix the caviar with the rice thoroughly.  Reason being, the fried rice is not very salty, it's mild at best.  But if you mix the caviar all the way then every bite should have some flavor.

Here's some Chicken Wingz, it is very heavy in Soy but flavor is not bad, just wetter than normal wings, I'm accustomed to. 

Overall, I feel this meal was net neutral.  The spot is hip, the seating is comfortable.  For brunch, they have one staff running between the inside and outside seating. That makes ordering, and service a tad slower.  Not that we were in a hurry, but like for it to be in reasonable amount of time.  That said, flavor overall is on the mild side.  For Vietnamese food, I have certain expectation on the flavor palate, and I didn't get it here.  That said, they do have some noteworthy dishes.  They definitely did a great job on the marketing side.  I will say, the drinks looks awesome, but since I'm not drinking much these days, not sure I can say much to that.

In terms of parking, the street parking is your best bet.  Please respect the neighbors and the follow the street signs.  There are plenty to go around, so just be patient. 

Kau Ba

2502 Dunlavy st

Ste B

Houston, Tx 77006

713-497-5300

https://www.kaubakitchen.com

Caracol

Went back to Caracol for work dinner.

Even on week nights, they tend to get busy, so make sure you make a reservation!

Got the Pineapple Paloma to start.  Just so festive!

This is the Ceviche de Caracol, there are conch, pineapple, papaya, ginger, and red jalapeño.  My coworker said, grab a glass of Riesling to go with this dish, great pairing.

This is the Ensalada de Betabel, which is beets, lemon, walnuts, whipped blue cheese, and little bit of blood orange.  Very light and good as summer is approaching.

This is the Taquitos Tronadores de Carnitas, which is a pulled pork taquito, super yummy, everyone was trying to get their hands on this one.

Of course, their famous wood-roasted Oysters.  My favorite, I can probably sit there and eat the entire dozen if it's not in front of company. 

Decided to do Chile Relleno de Pollo, that's chicken, with green pumpkin seed sauce, Chihuahua cheese.  Very different, not too dry, as far as the chicken go.  The sauce has decent flavor but not over-emporwering. 

For sides, we got some rice and beans.

Another side is the crispy potato, I've never had that before and they put some cheese crumbs on top. Super delicious.  Now, it's definitely on my radar.

For dessert, I got the Churros.  To my surprise, it wasn't warm and I feel like it doesn't have enough flavor.  Of course, chocolate ice cream is good, but I'm used to dipping into hot chocolate sauce.  So that was a let down.

Overall, I never had a bad meal here.  I love the staff that are super attentive but not pushy.  Food is delicious as usual.  Again, definitely make a reservation, no matter if it is weekend or weekdays.  This is a popular business dinner place.  You can elect to valet or self park.  The entry for self-park is on the side, grab a ticket, and on your way out, stop by the hostess stand to get it validated, very convenient.

Caracol

2200 Post Oak Blvd

Ste 160

Houston, TX 77056

713-622-9996

http://www.caracol.net

Sweet Memes

Walked into Sweet Memes...

...took a look around.  Was wondering why does it look so familiar.

Then finally click that it was the old Boba & Cream's reincarnation.

I got a Fruit Tea, just sounded nice.  Peach tea with fresh slices of peach inside.  My kind of jam.

I also ordered Panna Cotta, except, didn't realized it's more like a drink.  So, it is Vietnamese Dessert called Che Khuc Bach, which has gelatin blocks of desserts in almond, lychee, pandan flavors.  From what I gathered, they're mostly blocks of gelatin, not more sweet syrup than the blocks.  But that's what ended up showing up in front of me.  

I tasted it, I was super full, and plus the fruit tea, I just had a couple of bites and passed it on.  As far as dessert goes, it's not bad.  Just wasn't what I thought it was.  

Another thing this shop is known for is their block toast.  They basically have this big block of bread, emptied out the middle and toasted them.  This one in particular is the salted egg yolk one.  So, they had the salted egg yolk, crushed it into pieces and they sprinkled it all around and then put whipped cream on top.  

It does taste good, it does come with a side of ice cream.  To off set the saltiness, they had condensed milk drizzled.  So, you get some salty with your sweet.  It's pretty good, I was just super full by that point.

There are plenty of seating, also couple of walls great for the 'gram.  That said, like any dessert or coffee places, people tend to hang for a while playing games and chatting.  So, either hit it right after dinner, or after that mad rush for a date or something.

Sweet Memes

9630 Clarewood Dr

Houston, TX 77036

832-849-0948

https://sweet-memes-dessert-tea.business.site

Relish

Met up with a friend over Happy Hour.

Located in the old Bird & Bear location on Westheimer near Kirby.  They share a parking lot w/ Chuy's there.  Now, pay extra attention to the line, they have designated parking.  Of course, valet is available. 

First off, we ordered a cheese board.  I am weak to a good cheese board.  But look at how much stuff we got.  3 cheeses: cheddar and blueberries, Bay Blue with pears, My Tam Triple Cream with apple slices.  They came with honeycomb, mustard, cracker, pickled cucumber, cauliflower.  We also added salami and prosciutto.

This is the Caramelized Onion Dip.  Dip was fine but the chips were made in-house and is awesome. Cannot stop munching on them.

Saw that they have Chicken Wings, peaked my interest.  It is Grilled Dijon wings with tarragon ranch dip.  It is more mustard-y than to my taste, but well made.

Here we have Deviled Eggs with Fried Chicken and drizzled with Maple Syrup.  There's a lot of flavors going on at the same time.  Ironically, that worked very well together.  I'm not typically a mix sweet & savory person, but this I don't mind having more of...

Happy hour price and selection is worth coming here to check it out.  As a matter of fact, the bar area has a very neighborhood feel to it.  Friendly, everyone is grabbing a drink, waiting out traffic, before going home.  Very welcoming.  The staff are super helpful with every turn and we were well attended to as well.  Definitely good service.

Relish 

2810 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77098

713-599-1960

http://www.relishhouston.com

Auntie Chang's

It has been a long time since I've been back to Auntie Chang's.

It's on the upstairs at a shopping center on Shepherd by Westheimer.  It's been there forever.

For Lunch Specials, they come with soup and wonton chips.

We got the pork steamed dumplings.  The skin was way too thick, and the consistency just varies.

My favorite ruin-my-diet dish: beef and broccoli.  Mainly, I just wanted the sauce to accompany my rice. 

Only difference is, instead of rice, we ordered the Singapore Street Noodles.  

You can tell there's been a change of chef because the noodle is much spicier than before.  Now, granted, I haven't been there for 4 plus years, lots can change.  This place have always been known for Americanized Chinese food.  That said, it was enjoyable, and now the place just feels tired.  Hope they turn the corner soon.

Auntie Chang's

2621 S. Shepherd Dr

Houston, TX 77098

713-524-8410
http://auntiechangs.com

Tasty Point

Went back to Tasty Point. 

Got the Milk Tea served Champagne style.  I like it this way, less ice in my drink and won't dilute it with melted water.  Keep the tea flavor in tact.

Chinese Bun Skewers.  The bun has no fillings, it is pure bread, and it's crispy on the outside and sprinkled with sugar.  It is sweet and delightful.

We shared the Tom Yum Hot Pot.  It is essentially a seafood hot pot with spicy broth.  The broth is not as spicy and sour like a true Tom Yum soup.  For seafood, you can see there's shrimp, muscle, calamari, crab, tofu, clam cabbage and mushroom in the mix.

For the Taiwanese Spicy Hot Pot, there are sliced beef, pork intestines beef ball, dumpling, ramen noodle, tofu, quail egg, mushroom, and fish ball with filling inside.  

When you order, you can have it come with vermicelli or rice, or braised pork rice.  Since we had so much protein here, I opted for vermicelli.  Otherwise, my favorite is their braised pork rice.  Highly recommend.  If you do go, try to be there 10-15 mins before peak dining time, that's to guarantee you'll get seated quickly. 

Tasty Point

9110A Bellaire Blvd

Houston, TX 77036

281-888-6551

http://www.tastypointus.com/